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Mark Pilling: June 2007 Archives

Is it a boat or a plane - no it's an airport

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Dubbed the boat - at least that's what the blurb from the architect Dar Al-Handasah calls part of its design - the new airport at Egypt's tourist gateway at Sharm El-Sheikh does not look half bad.

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Occasionally airport designs are worthy of note just because they do look striking - the UK's Southampton Airport had the same effect a few years ago.

Paris Air Show Blog 7: Jet makes a PR splash

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Jet Airways has pulled off something of a publicity coup here at the Paris Air Show with its new Boeing 777-300ER drawing big crowds and admiring glances.

The main attraction is the cabin, which features one of the most luxurious first class "cabins" in the sky.

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Here is Jet founder and chairman Naresh Goyal trying out his own product while conducting a few interviews.

Air shows always throw up humorous moments, and Tony Fernandes (front row left) saw the funny side of almost being denied access to the EADS/Airbus chalet during the Paris Air Show.

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But he did recount his tale to a packed press conference, leaving a few Airbus execs wriggling uncomfortably in their seats

Little known Italian carrier ItAli Airlines was in the news this week at the Paris Air Show as it became the first non-Russian operator to order Sukhoi's Superjet 100 regional jetliner.

In a sweltering and packed press conference (press conference(">see what the BBC said about it here), ItAli Airlines ordered 10 SSJ 100s, plus 10 options, for delivery from 2009 up to 2011. It currently operates mainly Boeing MD-82s and Dornier 328s on domestic and charter services.

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The shot shows ItAli Airlines founder and chairman Giuseppe Spadaccini (centre left) receiving an SSJ model from Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company president Victor Subbotin just before the signing was stopped to prevent those attending from fainting due to lack of oxygen.

As ever with any new aircraft programme there is plenty of speculation that it is going to be late. Often this speculation is correct - witness the delays to the Airbus A380.

Boeing, however, insists that the murmurings of its discontent about 787 progress, which include a critical analysts report and photos of composite parts that do not marry up on the assembly line, are being overblown.

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Boeing is confident it can keep to its schedule to deliver the first 787 to Japan's All Nippon Airways next year.

Paris Air Show Blog 3: Airbus celebrates

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Airbus was always going to pull out the PR stops for the Paris Air Show: and with over $45 billion worth of orders, commitments, purchase agreements and perhaps the odd IOU, it has not disappointed (John Leahy, below, shows off the paperwork).

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In his first "state-of-the-nation" address to the assembled press corps at one of the major air shows, Boeing head man Scott Carson gave a remarkably assured performance. Here he is (right) with GECAS chief Henry Hubschman in Paris.

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The affable Carson seemed pleased to be there, relishing the chance to joust with the media about Boeing's performance on the air transport front much as his predecessor Alan Mulally did. "It's Monday, it's Paris, and this is as good as it gets," proclaimed Carson.

On the one hand Europe's airlines - network, leisure, low-cost and regional - say they are in favour of emissions trading as a way to curb emissions.

On the other hand, when their consultants took a deeper look at how the European Commission was going to include aviation in its wider Emissions Trading Scheme the result was not good (here is the full report). "Costly and unworkable" went the press release. "Underestimates the wide-ranging reprecussions of the proposal on European aviation," they continued.

EasyJet wants an eco jet by 2015

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Over the years we have got use to images of aircraft manufacturing CEOs posing proudly beside models of their latest creations. Remember Boeing head Alan Mulally and his Sonic Cruiser a few years ago?

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So it is with some surprise that the latest such image features not a Mulally type, but an airline CEO type: the CEO in question is easyJet boss Andrew Harrison.

Here he is posing in front of the "easyJet ecoJet", an aircraft concept he unveiled today (14 June) in London that he wants to deliver huge environmental benefits.

Flybe takes labelling to a higher plane

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Consumers and producers like labels. They can tell you useful things about a product like what substances are in a food or how much power an electrical device uses.

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UK regional carrier flybe has just brought the idea to the airline business with an eco-labelling scheme. It is the brainchild of Mike Rutter, the airline's chief commercial officer, who had seen a labelling scheme work well for previous employer Hoover, a maker of household appliances.

Prominently flagged on flybe's website, the labelling gives passengers a detailed breakdown of the fuel consumption, carbon emissions and noise patterns of the aircraft type used on their journey when they make a booking.

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The comings and goings at the Star Alliance are illustrated quite clearly on this bmi Airbus A320, which is a regular at London Heathrow.

There are in fact four changes to the line-up that need to be made the next time this aircraft, registration G-MIDX, has a new paint job: Ansett Australia has gone bust; Varig has disappeared and membership of Star has gone too; Mexicana left the alliance in favour of a bilateral relationship with American Airlines; and Tyrolean Airways has become Austrian Arrows.

IATADay1CoverW200.jpgThe great and the good from the world's airlines met earlier this week in Vancouver at the IATA Annual General Meeting.

The Airline Business editorial team was there in force, producing on site two special daily editions covering the event.

Read what happened here.

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